Animals Nobody Loves

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Animals Nobody Loves

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 2001. ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES. New York: SeaStar Books.
ISBN: 1587170809

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Most people cringe at the thought and sight of cobras, vultures, rats, cockroach, fire ants, and piranhas. Seymour Simon’s book Animals Nobody Loves informs readers about these misunderstood creatures and helps to dispel common myths that exist about these animals. Simon gives readers insight into the pesky, dangerous, and often feared animals offering readers factual scientific information about these creatures and their behaviors.

Simon devotes a two-page spread for each of the twenty animals featured in the book with one side containing informational text, and the other a remarkable glossy photograph that captures the brawn and beauty of these animals.

He uses this book as a way to inform readers and warn them of the dangers that can come from interacting with these animals. Simon writes about the wasp, “They usually will not sting unless they are bothered.” He goes on to warn about the Gila monster, “Few people are bitten by Gila monsters – only those foolish enough to try to handle one.”

The informational text featured in Simon’s work also includes facts about the geographic location of the animals, varying species of the animal, and the danger that can come from human contact with these creatures. Readers will have a new perspective on the twenty animals featured in this book thanks to Simon’s descriptive writing and the inclusion of remarkable photography.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is one that will engage readers right from the start beginning with a dramatic and detailed photograph of an intimidating spider on the cover. High quality photographs are included throughout the book with a “wow” factor that will have students talking and sharing aloud about what they look inside this book.

Young and reluctant readers will find the book appealing due to the layout and organization of material in Simon’s work and large print type. The pages are well defined and sectioned with two-page spread that include bold headings. Colorful pages with bright contrasting colored font varying with each featured animal. The introduction is concise and explains his purpose for writing the book.

Simon writes, “Some animals just have bad reputations that are not based on fact. Animals are not bad or evil. They do what they must in order to survive.”

Vivid and detailed descriptions of animal behavior will engage readers pulling them into the remarkable strength and voracious appetites some of these creatures display. Simon writes this about the great white shark, “Its large, saw-edged teeth can rip through wood and even metal. The great white shark has a huge appetite and will eat any animal or person that it finds in its path” The piranha, “Piranhas can strip the flesh from a large animal in just minutes.”

Descriptions also show the timid side of some of these animals including this written about the octopus, “Some people think of an octopus as a terrible monster that attacks any diver swimming near its cave. But the octopus is really shy and harmless.”

Simon does not include an index or sources for readers, so students will need to locate additional sources for in depth information about these animals. Simon concludes the book by posting a question to readers asking if they feel differently about any of the animals in the book after reading the text. He encourages students to make a list of animals they don’t “love” thinking about why they put them on the list. The interactive nature Simon’s text paired with the high interest photography will provide readers with a bold and dramatic literary experience as they explore animals that nobody likes or loves.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Booklist: “The photos (and even the text) won't do much to change the reputation of animals such as the vulture and the rat, but there's no denying they'll draw a crowd and a chorus of "Gross."

Kirkus Reviews: "You may never love a rattlesnake, a cockroach, or an octopus-but this book may help you begin to understand and respect them for what they are."

5. CONNECTIONS:
Students can connect this book to studies in science about animals using this text beginning point of gathering scientific information about animals.

Students can evaluate their prior knowledge of the animals in a compare and contrast format using a KWL chart to analyze how what they learned was different from what they knew before reading the text.